The present invention relates to ironing board assemblies, and in particular, to assemblies designed for stable mounting on a door.
Using collapsible ironing boards can be inconvenient because they must be retrieved from storage before unfolding. When the ironing board must be used repeatedly, the transporting and unfolding can be tedious. A more convenient folding ironing board is hingedly attached in a recess in a wall or in a cabinet built upon a wall. Such an ironing board can be lifted into the recess or cabinet and quickly stored. The stored board can be concealed by a door. While this known assembly is convenient to use, it is expensive to install and requires skilled carpentry.
An important consideration when designing a folding ironing board assembly, is stabilizing it from shifting during use. Another important consideration is the ease of installation, but a simple and easily installed board assembly may not be able to avoid lateral shifting. Thus, if an ironing board assembly is attached to a wall or a door, the board must either be rigidly attached or attached in such a way that the likelihood of lateral slippage is minimized. A disadvantage with known ironing board assemblies is the difficulty in enhancing both the ease of installation and the lateral stability.
A known ironing board assembly has an inverted U-shaped frame with upper hooks that hold the frame to the top edge of a door. The ironing board can be hingedly mounted on the lower prongs of the inverted U-shaped frame. (For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,205). Such an assembly unfortunately has a relatively heavy frame that can be dislodged when the door supporting the frame is swung. Furthermore, these known ironing board assemblies employ suction cups that have proved unreliable for holding the assembly in a laterally stable position.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved ironing board assembly that is relatively compact, is easily installed and has good lateral stability.